At six years old, Lonnie Ali had her first sighting of famous boxer, Muhammad Ali. They lived in the same neighborhood, and Muhammad, then called Cassius Clay, approached her and came to be one of her best friends, "an older brother figure" she called him. Through his career, and her schooling, they remained in touch. When Lonnie was 29 years old, she and Muhammad got married. She knew that he was starting to have the early signs of Parkinson's disease, but she refused to care. “I knew the man, not the celebrity,” she said. “That’s who I loved. And he knew I would always be in his corner.”
At first, his disease did almost nothing to slow him down. He continued travelling with his
family, and spending time with his wife and son. Eventually, Muhammad's Parkinson's disease got worse. Lonnie continued to care for him and at the same time, raiser their son, Asaad. She was wearing herself out and when she went to the doctors office to find out what her problem was, she fell asleep in the waiting room. The doctor told her she was simply sleep deprived.
Lonnie says she has a hard time dealing with the fact that Muhammad, once a world famous boxer, can sometimes barely walk, and will often sit in silence. However, Lonnie states that she has been with him so long, all she has to do is look at him to know what he needs. Even though Parkinson's is a tough disease, Muhammad doesn't let it get him down. He has had it for over twenty five years, and is now taking piano lessons. For awhile after Muhammad's Parkinson's disease got worse, he was uncomfortable in front of the camera. He then appeared with Michael J. Fox, another Parkinson's disease sufferer, and Lonnie thinks that is what got him so inspired.
Muhammad is now spending much of his time trying to inspire people with Parkinson's. Lonnie states that they often get letters from people with Parkinson's Disease who wouldn't even go out of the house until they saw Muhammad do it.
The question about this caregiver's story, is the idea that it may only be so inspiring to readers because it's about a person Americans have all heard of. The author is hoping that it will be hard for Americans to see that someone once so strong and powerful is now weaker and can't fully take care of himself. There are tons of people in the United States with Parkinson's disease, and many of them have their spouses as their main caregivers. However, this couple is the one in which the article was written about. The author also uses the effect that Muhammad's disease had on his family to make the reader sympathize with both Muhammad himself, and his family. Without this aspect, the story would simply be another sad one in the midst.
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